Community Scoop: Jeff and Annie's Romance Gets 'Pumped Up' In Season 3

Any Community fans who have been awaiting a full-fledged romance between Jeff and Annie may finally get their wish come Season 3. At least that’s what series stars Joel McHale and Alison Brie tell TVLine.

During a recent visit to the set of NBC’s cult fave comedy, I attempted to dig up some dirt on Greendale’s somewhat taboo twosome, and came up with this, courtesy of McHale: “The relationship between Jeff and Annie will definitely be pumped up.”

Given that the word “relationship” implies there might be more there than just friendship going on, my interest was instantly piqued — and rightfully so.

“There’s definitely more Jeff/Annie chemistry this year than ever before,” Brie teased when asked what to expect when school reopens Thursday, Sept. 22, at 8/7c. “In seasons past, [Community] has really made the audience wait for a moment between the two, but this year we address it right away.”

And by it Brie of course means the raw “sexual chemistry” between the two.

“Jeff and Annie are both very upfront with each other about their sexual tension — more than ever before — so much so that Joel and I were a little taken aback,” Brie continued. “We, as actors, started to think, ‘Ohhh, maybe these two hooked up a little bit over the summer’ — like there was something we didn’t even know about. They just seem more comfortable with this thing between them than ever before.”

Brie explained that said liaisons — which, per McHale are not initially revealed to the study group — are touched on in the premiere but “really kick up by the second and third episodes.”

McHale took an in-the-dark approach to answering when asked when or if the pair’s new closeness will evolve into an actual relationship down the road, saying with a laugh, “I have not gotten to those scripts yet — if that is even where it’s going.”

Added the actor, insightfully, “Our genius creator Dan Harmon will not give in to television conventions of ‘Will they/Won’t they?’ relationships — as you saw with Britta and Jeff and all the sex over the past two seasons. But it’s different territory with Jeff and Annie.

“There aren’t a lot of TV relationships out there like this,” he pointed out, “and I’m sure if something real develops between this older dude and this younger girl, it will be taken seriously, so it doesn’t become a parody.”